Pellissippi State Technical Community College recently made it to the ‘elite eight'—the last eight in an elimination round—in a regional competition calling for participants to build a robot that plays basketball. The college was one of only three two-year schools to enter. A total of 38 college and university teams participated in the competition.

Students and instructors from Pellissippi's Electrical Engineering Technology and pre-engineering degree programs participated in the project, which began in September 2006. Participants from the college's Mechanical Engineering Technology program helped in the initial stages as well.

Pellissippi State's team consisted of EET students Scott Britt, Chris McAbee, Tim Kadri and Darrell Wood; Pre-engineering students Jeremy Brantley and Wes Forbes; and instructors Ken Swayne, associate professor and program coordinator, and Carl Mallette, associate professor of Electrical Engineering Technology.